News from EPI › A long, slow climb out of the recession

The Commerce Department reported today that gross domestic product (or GDP, the widest measure of economic activity, equal to the final value of goods and services produced in the United States) rose at an annualized rate of 2.0% in the third quarter of 2010, up slightly from a 1.7% annualized increase in the previous quarter.

As of the third quarter of 2010, GDP remains 0.8% lower than it was in the fourth quarter of 2007, the pre-recession peak. On average, the economy 11 quarters after a recession begins is 8.6% larger. While this historically low GDP recovery is largely a function of the severity of the recession, we are now five quarters into recovery, and these five quarters have seen exceptionally slow growth—beating only the performance following the trough of the 2001 recession (among recoveries that lasted five quarters or more).

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EPI is an independent, nonprofit think tank that researches the impact of economic trends and policies on working people in the United States. EPI’s research helps policymakers, opinion leaders, advocates, journalists, and the public understand the bread-and-butter issues affecting ordinary Americans.